Turkey asks Germany to extradite Syrian Kurdish politician

Saleh Muslim is hugely popular among the Kurds in the region. (AFP)

ANKARA: Turkey has requested that German authorities detain and extradite a wanted Syrian Kurdish politician, Turkish officials said Monday.
Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag said Turkey asked Germany to extradite Salih Muslim, the former co-chair of the Democratic Union Party, or PYD, on Friday, who, according to state-run Anadolu Agency was spotted addressing a rally in Berlin over the weekend.
Muslim was released from custody in the Czech Republic last week, after being briefly detained on a Turkish arrest warrant. He was requested to remain within EU territory and be available for hearings in his extradition case.
Turkey considers the PYD a terrorist group because of its links to outlawed Kurdish insurgents fighting within its own borders. Muslim was put on Turkey’s most-wanted list in February, with a $1 million reward for his capture.
Bozdag told reporters that Turkey received information that Muslim planned to travel to Germany from the Czech Republic and requested his return on Friday.
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said he would take up the issue with his German counterpart when he visits Berlin on Tuesday. Cavusoglu said Turkey did not know whether Muslim was still in Germany but said Turkey would continue to seek his detention and extradition “wherever he goes.”
“There will be no more respite for him,” he said. A spokesman for Germany’s Interior Ministry declined to comment on the case of Muslim, citing privacy rules.
“In general terms, should we receive such a tracing request, either bilaterally or via Interpol, then there always needs to be a very, very diligent examination procedure,” Johannes Dimroth told reporters in Berlin.
He added that the German government would take into account “all aspects that need to be considered in such situations” before making a decision.
Germany has objected in the past to Turkey’s use of Interpol warrants to get other countries to detain Ankara’s critics.